Page 195 - Demo

Wednesday 27th September - Sintra - Cabo da Roca - Praia das Ma%u00e7%u00e3s - Sintra - Lisboa - Luton - LondonHot & sunny. Gotta love the Portuguese weather! A quick pack, and a nice parting gift from Rui - a quality wooden pen in a wooden box that celebrated the hotel%u2019s 50th year. Today is also Sintra%u2019s World Heritage Day, so expecting crowds we loaded up the bags and drove down to the coast. Took some beautiful winding lanes through green woods , down the side of the mountain. Passed some lovely unspoiled villages. Drove out to Cabo da Roca, the true westernmost point of Europe (I got it wrong in an earlier report, saying Sagres was!). The point was another stunning cliff top escarpment topped by a lighthouse with sheer drops down to craggy rocks and weird formations far below. Admired the posh but tiny Tourismo office, with its grand lounge with furniture and chandeliers. Drove further north along the coast to Priaia Das Macas beach. Nothing much there, although a sandy playground for Teia, and an interesting Futsal pitch, right on the beach. Drove back up to Sintra alongside the tram tracks. Saw the old rickety tram rattling precariously down the mountain. Drove through Sintra and Lisboa, stopping to fuel up the car at the Benfica stadium. Dropped the car off at the airport and checked in with no trouble except for a faulty ticketing machine that held up the long queue for Easyjet flight to Luton.